+ COVID-19 AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING RESPONSE

Housing Provisions in the CARES Act

In response to the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis, Congress passed the CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020. The bill provides $12 billion in funding for HUD programs, including:

• $4 billion for Emergency Solutions Grants for homelessness assistance

• $5 billion for Community Development Block Grants

• $1.25 billion for the Housing Choice Voucher program

• $1 billion for project-based rental assistance

• $50 million for Section 202 Housing for the Elderly

• $15 million for Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities

The National Low Income Housing Coalition provides a thorough analysis of the housing provisions of the bill as well as a helpful chart comparing the House, Senate, and final signed bills.

The San Diego Housing Federation sent a letter on March 24 in response to legislative proposals at the federal level in support of HUD funding levels aligned with the anticipated need.

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)

Novogradac’s LIHTC working group has sent a letter requesting regulatory relief from the IRS and Treasury Department due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ACTION campaign has also outlined several proposals to shore up the LIHTC program, including enacting a minimum 4 percent credit rate.

Housing in the California State Budget

The California Department of Finance has sent an interim fiscal update on April 10 to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee outlining fiscal impacts for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The update projects that there will be $6 billion in response-related expenditures for 2020 and estimates that California will receive $8.4 billion in direct assistance for COVID-19 related expenditures up to $6.9 billion in direct assistance to local governments. The update also reflects expectations outlined in an April 6 memo from Assembly Budget Committee Chair Philip Ting that the May budget revise will be a “workload” budget focused on maintaining existing services.

The San Diego Housing Federation has signed on to a letter in coalition with Housing CA, CSH, and the United Way requesting an ongoing budget allocation of $2 billion annually to fund evidence-based solutions to homelessness, including affordable and supportive housing.

The State Legislature is scheduled to reconvene on May 4, 2020.

Eviction Moratorium Policies

Governor Gavin Newsom announced an Executive Order on March 27 banning enforcement of eviction orders for renters impacted by COVID-19 through May 31, 2020. On April 6, the California Courts issued an emergency rule on evictions and foreclosures. The Western Center on Law & Poverty provides an overview of the court rule here. At the same time, many local governments in the San Diego region have adopted their own eviction moratorium policies. CSH has created a chart with an overview of the policies last updated on March 31, available here.

+ Climate Action

SDHF comments on NAVWAR Redevelopment San Diego Housing Federation submitted a comment letter on July 13th in support of the Navy’s preferred Alternative while also urging the Navy to require a minimum of 20 percent of the housing units built be deed-restricted affordable housing for low-income households. The development would aid the city of San Diego in reaching its allocation of 108,036 units for the Regional Housing Needs Assessment. The preferred alternative proposed 14,364 units of housing and this would greatly impact the city reaching its regional housing needs but the Housing Federation explained in the comment letter that the Navy has not mentioned specific requirements of the proposed housing to have a certain percentage of the housing be dedicated as deed-restricted affordable housing for very-low and low-income households who are most impacted by housing cost burden.

SDHF comments on Round 6 AHSC Guidelines

The California Strategic Growth Council has released draft guidelines for Round 6 of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program. As detailed in a January 2020 report by Circulate San Diego entitled “Fair Share,” the San Diego region received approximately 7 percent of total program funding in the first four rounds. When the most recent round of awards is included, the percentage of total funds received from the AHSC program drops to 5 percent. The San Diego region represents 8.5 percent of the state’s total population and is receiving less than its fair share from the AHSC program. In response, SDHF recommended changes to the program, including adopting geographic set-asides, in a letter submitted on July 23. Many of our recommendations were included in the draft program guidelines and you can read our comments in a letter we submitted on October 15. The draft program guidelines will be considered by the Strategic Growth Council for final adoption on November 17.

SDHF releases local report – Location Matters: Affordable Housing and VMT Reduction in San Diego County

This report was prepared for the San Diego Housing Federation (SDHF) by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and co-authored with the California Housing Partnership Corporation (CHPC).

In 2015, CNT, with support of CHPC, completed a statistical analysis of household travel in California to estimate the relationship between income, location efficiency, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) throughout the state. Location efficient places have access to jobs and services and allow residents and visitors to get around by walking, biking, or on transit, reducing car travel. This report applies the findings from a statewide study available here. This report is meant to inform local planning and development efforts aimed at reducing VMT and resulting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report also provides guidance on use of the state’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program to support development of location-efficient affordable homes and GHG-reducing transportation investments in San Diego County.

Download the PDF

+ Homelessness

NPLH Program

On July 1, 2016, Governor Brown signed landmark legislation enacting the No Place Like Home program to dedicate $2 billion in bond proceeds to invest in the development of permanent supportive housing for persons who are in need of mental health services and are experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or who are at risk of chronic homelessness. The bonds are repaid by funding from the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). 5: http://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-funding/active-funding/nplh.shtml

Key features of the program include:

• Counties will be eligible applicants (either solely or with a housing development sponsor).
• Funding for permanent supportive housing must utilize low barrier tenant selection practices that prioritize vulnerable populations and offer flexible, voluntary, and individualized supportive services.
• Counties must commit to provide mental health services and help coordinate access to other community-based supportive services.

As a part of our policy and advocacy work, SDHF is taking a local leadership role in providing feedback to the lead state agency on the program and monitoring its design and implementation.

On May 24, 2017, SDHF convened a task group to discuss comments and feedback on the proposed program framework. The session was intended to inform SDHF members on the NPLH program framework, engage participant in discussion on how to improve the program, and provide the content of the comments to be submitted to HCD on SDHF’s behalf. The presentation provided by Simonne Ruff of CSH at the task group meeting can be found here. Read SDHF’s submitted comments here.

+ Preservation and At-Risk Affordable Housing

On Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved to two items SDHF believes will positively impact housing policy in the county. The first item titled “Advancing Immediate and Long-Term Housing Priorities Through the Innovative Housing Trust Fund [Funding Source: General Fund]” was brought forth by Supervisor Lawson-Remer and Supervisor Anderson. This would place $20 million into the Innovative Housing Trust Fund (IHTF) and would amend the funds NOFA criteria and place an additional $5 million towards affordable housing policy research, development, implementation and evaluation of affordable housing pilot program that advance equity, sustainability, and affordability. The second item was brought forth by Vice-chair Vargas and Supervisor Lawson-Remer titled “Transformative Housing Solutions that Advance Equity, Sustainability, and Affordability for All [Funding Source: Unassigned General Fund Balance]”.

SDHF provided a comment letter in support of both items along with recommendations to strengthen the proposals. Both passed unanimously.

On Wednesday, April 18th, the San Diego City Council Smart Growth & Land Use Committee heard an item presented by SDHF’s Executive Director, Stephen Russell, and Kwofi Reed of LISC San Diego on strategies for preserving at-risk and expiring affordable housing in San Diego. There is currently a shortfall of over 142,000 affordable homes for low-income renters throughout San Diego County and in the City of San Diego nearly 1,300 affordable homes are considered at-risk of converting to market rate housing. The presentation to the Smart Growth & Land Use committee reviewed data on at-risk housing in San Diego as well as best practices in affordable housing preservation. To learn more, please review the Housing Federation’s presentation here.

On July 6, 2017, California Housing Partnership and San Diego Housing Federation held a workshop “Strategies for Expiring and At Risk Affordable Housing in San Diego County."

San Diego County needs 142,052 more affordable rental homes to meet the needs of its lowest-income renters. Compounding upon this deficit, over 1,900 rent assisted homes have been lost in the County since 1995. Today, renters need to earn more than 3 times the local minimum wage to afford the median asking rent of $1,940 in San Diego County. San Diego County’s lowest-income renters now spend 69% of income on rent, leaving little left for food, transportation, health expenses, and other needs. While these renters struggle to make ends meet, the County is at-risk of losing more than 1,800 affordable homes in the next five years.

At this special event, Danielle Mazzella, Housing Data Analyst with the California Housing Partnership, presented detailed information on at-risk affordable housing throughout San Diego County. Following the presentation, Anne Wilson, Senior Vice President with Community HousingWorks, led a discussion on the data findings. Workshop attendees shared ideas for local solutions, including advocating for cities to have a housing coordinator dedicated to identifying and monitoring at-risk affordable housing, as well as state legislation aimed at addressing the issue. Workshop presentation can be found here. Local preservation strategies discussed can be found here.

+ FINANCING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Multifamily Housing Program Guidelines

The proposed guidelines make several substantive changes including: removal of the prohibition on use of multiple department funding sources to assist the same unit; addition of cost-savings scoring criteria; and revisions to scoring factors, among others. SDHF submitted a comment letter on the proposed changes